page_title: Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson
section_title: Enduring links with England
hierarchical_section_title: Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson / Enduring links with England
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of a seal of Alan fitz Roland, Lord of Galloway (died 1234).
context_page_description: Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson ruled as King of the Isles from 1187 to 1226. He was the eldest son of Guðrøðr Óláfsson, King of Dublin and the Isles. Although the latter may have intended for his younger son, Óláfr, to succeed to the kingship, the Islesmen chose Rǫgnvaldr, who was likely Óláfr's half-brother. Rǫgnvaldr went on to rule the Kingdom of the Isles for almost forty years before losing control to Óláfr.
  The Crovan dynasty may have reached its zenith during Rǫgnvaldr's reign. Acclaimed in one near contemporary Scandinavian source as "the greatest warrior in the western lands", he lent military aid to William I, King of Scotland against the disaffected Haraldr Maddaðarson, Earl of Orkney and Caithness, and occupied Caithness for a short period of time at about the turn of the thirteenth century. Like his predecessors, Rǫgnvaldr was closely associated with the rulers of northern Wales. A daughter of his was betrothed to Rhodri ab Owain, a dynast of the ruling family of Gwynedd. In 1193, Rǫgnvaldr lent military aid to Rhodri against his rivals.
context_section_description: Numerous sources reveal that, in the years following the ravaging of Mann and plundering of the Isles, Rǫgnvaldr bound himself closer to the English Crown. Whilst at Lambeth on 16 May 1212, for instance, during what was likely his second visit to England in six years, Rǫgnvaldr formally swore that he was John's liegeman. Rǫgnvaldr's visit to England is corroborated by a record, dated 20 May, regarding the English Crown's payment of ten marks for conducting Rǫgnvaldr home. Further corroboration is provided by the record, dated 16 May, concerning the release of some of Rǫgnvaldr's men who had been held in custody at Porchester and Dover.
  In another record, also dated 16 May, John authorised his seneschals, governors, and bailiffs in Ireland to come to Rǫgnvaldr's aid in the event that his territory was threatened by "Wikini or others", since Rǫgnvaldr had bound himself to do the same against John's own enemies. The record of "Wikini" or Vikings in this order may refer to the Norwegian raiders, like those who plundered the Isles in 1210. This particular source reveals that, not only was Rǫgnvaldr protected by John, but that he was also obligated to defend John's interests in the Irish Sea region. As such, Rǫgnvaldr's security was enhanced by English assistance, and John's influence was extended over the Isles at the expense of the Scots.
  Yet another transaction dated 16 May, in return for the homage and service that he rendered to the English Crown, Rǫgnvaldr and his heirs received a grant consisting of one knight's fee of land at Carlingford, and one hundred measures of corn to be paid yearly at Drogheda for the service of a knight. The grant gave Rǫgnvaldr a valuable foothold in Ireland, and provided his powerful galley-fleet with an additional safe haven. The precise location of the territory granted to Rǫgnvaldr is unrecorded and unknown. Carlingford had until recently been a power centre of Hugh, and Rǫgnvaldr's grant may fit into the context of filling the power vacuum following the destruction of the Lacy lordship.
  Rǫgnvaldr's gifts from the English Crown may fit into the context of John attempting to offset interference from the Philip Augustus, King of France. At about this time, the French Crown had orchestrated a Franco-Welsh alliance in an attempt to divert the English to deal with a Welsh uprising rather than focus their forces upon the Continent and France in particular. In fact, there is evidence that Norman ships were active off Wales in 1210. Although John had come to terms with Llywelyn ap Iorwerth in 1211, the following year the latter formed a concord with Philip. By May 1212, John succeeded in gaining the support of several foreign lords, such as the counts of Bar, Boulogne, and Flanders, the dukes of Brabant and Limburg, the Holy Roman Emperor, and Rǫgnvaldr himself. Despite these overtures, however, the Welsh uprisings of 1211 and 1212, as well as an English revolt in 1212, all succeeded in keeping English forces from invading France.
  As a consequence of Rǫgnvaldr's vassalage to the English Crown, and his role as guardian of the English seaways, it is probable that Islesmen were involved in far fewer predatory actions along the English and Irish coasts. At about the same time, several south-western Scottish magnates received grants in the north of Ireland. These included three of Rǫgnvaldr's Meic Fergusa kinsmen: Alan fitz Roland, Lord of Galloway, Alan's brother Thomas fitz Roland, Earl of Atholl, and Donnchad. Such grants appear to have been part of a coordinated campaign of the English and Scottish kings to gain authority over outlying territories where royal influence was limited.
  A record dated 3 January 1214 appears to confirm the English Crown's intentions of protecting the Islesmen, as it prohibits certain "mariners of Ireland" from entering Rǫgnvaldr's territories at his loss. The English pledges of protection of Rǫgnvaldr and his Irish holdings suggest that he was under immediate pressure at this period. It is possible, therefore, that the 1211/1212 seaborne devastation of Derry by Thomas fi
caption: Seal of Alan fitz Roland, Rǫgnvaldr's kinsman and ally.
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